Posted by Larry Hoover on January 1, 2005, at 23:14:29
In reply to spend money on pricey fish oil supplements?, posted by steady on December 31, 2004, at 12:55:42
> Hello, I'm new here.
>
> Sorry if this has been covered before.
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> I've been doing some book and internet research on fish oil supplements. I have seen a few other threads here on the same topic, so figure you guys must know something about this stuff, but I didn't see the answer to my question. :)
>
> I really want to take the supplements, but I was convinced, after reading "Omega Rx" from Dr. Sears, that I needed to take the pricey "pharmaceutical grade" fish oil supplements. I realize that he makes money from the endeavor, so I am skeptical, but also still concerned about contaminants from the cheaper brands.
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> I have seen the consumerlabs.org (sp?) report, which is a few years old, and which found no contaminants in 40 brands tested. I just wonder if that report is reliable and also whether there have been any newer studies.
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> So, does anyone know of any recent studies proving that cheaper fish oil brands don't have contaminants? Any other reason to believe that there are not contaminants in the cheaper brands??
>
> Many thanks!There may be certain fat-soluble contaminants in some fish oils. Those would include PCBs, some pesticides, dioxins, dibenzofurans, and such like.
Really, all food is contaminated with these things. Even organic foods. It's all a matter of degree.
Certain brands of fish oils do declare that they have been cleaned up to non-detectable contaminant levels. Those include Eskimo and Carlson's fish oils. There's more about this in the link I'll provide in a minute.
There are no heavy metals (mercury, cadmium, lead) in fish oils. Those metals do not physically interact with fats in such a way that they can even dissolve in it. They bind with proteins, which are thoroughly removed from fish oils. No proteins means no heavy metals. No special treatment required to get them out.
Whether you want to pay the extra money for somebody like Sears to profit from your situation is up to you, but I hope you catch a small bit of the cynicism in my voice.....err, typing.
Here's a pretty decent summary of the contaminant issue:
http://www.google.ca/groups?selm=fXRIc.11766%24RD4.875328%40news20.bellglobal.com&output=gplainLar
poster:Larry Hoover
thread:436007
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/alter/20050101/msgs/436607.html